


Injuries

by tikii



Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Cuddling, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Kissing, Linde is a sass master, M/M, Primrose Is A Good Bro, READ THE DESCIRPTION FOR CONTEXT ???, The Author Accidentally Gave Up Towards The End, Therion Is a Good Bro, Will there ever be a day where I don't write angst, i used word's check document to proof read this, i'm a horrible person i'm sorry, the T rating is for cursing and a small amount of blood, we go down like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 02:11:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16108610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikii/pseuds/tikii
Summary: In which the team gets split up, Alfyn gets hurt, and Therion thinks with his heart for once





	Injuries

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for this  
> ALSO !! HERE'S SOME CONTEXT FOR THIS STORY !!  
> So I was fighting Alfyn's chapter 3 boss and I kept on using first aid on him and my brother, who was watching me, said 'gee, if Alfyn couldn't heal himself, then you'd be toast about now" because Alfyn is my healer on my team.  
> So then my angst-filled mind came up with this  
> so yeah here's 4,000+ words that took over 4 days to write  
> (and I used word's check document for proof reading)  
> (sorry)

_**[ read description for context if you haven't already !!! ]** _

 

Healing was very important in battle. When it came to fight a monster, so someone who was bad, healing was the most important things there was - without it, probably no one could survive battle for long…

  


Which is why it was a problem that Alfyn couldn’t heal himself for some reason.

  


And the team found out the hard way.

  


Therion knew that things were going to go south the moment that they got split up. The cave wasn’t exactly sturdy from the start, so it didn’t really come as a surprise that the rocks that were being held up by wooden beams (why were they being held up by wooden beams???) just collapsed, and Therion barely had time to push Alfyn back towards him while H’annit shoved Primrose back.

  


Then the girls and the boys were stuck on two seperate sides. Primrose suggested that the other two find their way on the other side while H’annit and her could just go back to the entrance and used Linde to help find them again. Alfyn suggested _climbing over the rocks,_ but it took one look from Therion to debunk the stupid idea, so they went with Primrose’s suggestion. However, that meant without Primrose’s evasive maneuvers, they encountered enemies more, which meant more injuries.

  


At first, Alfyn made concoctions to heal Therion up (because he seemed to be doing fine), but then after a battle, Alfyn whispered a small, rather scared ‘aw, shucks’ under his breath.

  


“What is it?” Therion asked, raising an eyebrow and putting his dagger back on his belt.

  


“I-I forgot I gave most of my materials to Prim because she got interested in ‘em. And then we had to go. And she has most of my materials. Includin’ all the healing grapes we had.” The apothecary replied meekly, turning around and giving a weak smile to Therion. It seemed like he was about to reassure him, but the thief was _livid._

  


“Why the hell would you give her your materials?! You know you always need them on you, Alfyn? How could you be so stupid?!” Therion didn’t exactly mean to snap at him - it was just the annoyance at the situation that had him so worked up. However, he did what most people did and took it out on another person.

  


“W-well shucks, Theri. Its just Prim was so doggoned interested in everythin’ I had! I couldn’t say no to her! And I still have my first aid healin’!” Alfyn stammered out, taken aback by Therion’s shouting. “Why you just calm down a bit-”

  


“ _Don’t_ call me Theri.” Therion hissed, glaring at Alfyn with as much venom as that blotted viper. “If I die today, or if you die today, that’s _your_ fault. Now shut up and walk so we can survive.” He turned on his heel and stormed forward in what he assumed was the right direction.

  


“Now hol’ on just a moment, Therion, I don’t think that’s the right way-”

  


“I don’t think your thoughts when you gave Primrose your materials were going the right way, and yet, here we are. Get moving, moron.” Therion shot over his shoulder. Yikes. He knew that one came out a bit too harsh judging on the stony silence that followed. He glanced over his shoulder discretely to see Alfyn lagging, staring at the ground with a dejected look (gods, Alfyn, don’t look that way.) Therion did feel a bit of remorse for that comment, but it _was_ a very stupid thing to do. And he wasn’t happy.

  


What made the white-haired male even more upset was the fact that Alfyn was right in this sense- it just led to a chest with a light soulstone in it. They went the wrong way. Therion growled and began to walk feverently in the other direction, not wanting to hear an ‘I told you so’ from Alfyn, but what he heard was quite the opposite.

  


“Watch out!”

  


Therion stumbled to the side and fell on his bottom, his eyes wide. How had he not seen this coming? He was usually on top on things - the one warning the team when something was coming up behind them. The one who told Alfyn to get his axe ready-

  


_Alfyn._

  


The apothecary was sitting on the floor, clutching a bleeding stomach and staring wide-eyed at the monster in front of them. The white-haired male took out his dagger, preparing for battle. “Use first aid and get up, Alfyn. We have a fight in front of us.”

  


“...Theri?”

  


“Didn’t I just tell you _not_ to call me that?!” He sent a side glare to Alfyn (this wasn’t the time for banter) but stopped short when he saw the terrified expression on his face. “...Alfyn?”

  


“I-It just ain’t working.”

  


“Beg pardon?!”

  


“First aid isn’t working.” Alfyn repeated. It was then that something very bad settled into his stomach. Why wasn’t first aid working?? If Alfyn wasn't out of energy, he would have collapsed a long time ago! Or at least he wouldn’t be functioning well at this point.

  


“Alright. On the count of three, we’re running, okay?? Can you make as far as that boulder?” He asked, pointing to the giant boulder that was a couple of steps away.

  


“S-shucks. I can try.” Alfyn staggered a bit when he got up, looking to Therion for the green light. The white-haired male waited a couple of seconds before throwing a handful of dust from the floor at the monster and yelled ‘go!’

  


The apothecary stumbled over to the boulder and slid behind it as Therion used the light soulstone that they just got (for extra precaution) and booked it to the boulder as well. When he was sure the monster was gone, he looked towards Alfyn, who was desperately trying to use first aid on his stomach wound. That calming green glow that usually came out of his hand wasn’t coming out this time.

  


“Okay, Alfyn, we already established that it didn’t work. We just must wait, okay? Stop doing that. You’ll run out of energy.” Therion took Alfyn’s wrists and pressed his lips together, looking at the wound. There was just so much blood.

  


“‘M sorry, Therion. This is my fault.” Alfyn muttered in response, gently tugging his wrists away.

  


“...Don’t be. You just stopped me from getting painfully wounded - and you know I _complain_ when I’m hurt.” Therion gave him a trying smile, which got a chuckle from his wounded partner.

  


“You have a point. But Prim and H’an won’t be able to find us that fast…”

  


“C’mon, Alfyn. You’re making me feel uncomfortable. I actually have to be the optimistic one for once!” He tried again, but this one got no response. “They might not be fast, but Linde is. She’ll find us quickly and then alert the other two. I… you just need to hold on for now, okay? Can you do that?”

  


“Shucks, Therion. I’ll try. But ‘m not making any promises. This is a big wound… an’ I left my bandages with Prim...” He looked down at his wound and gave a slight grimace. “An’ I’m feeling mighty tired…”

  


“No. No. Alfyn. Keep your eyes open. Do you want me to do a dance for you or something to keep you awake?? Here!” That horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach made Therion want to lay down and just curl up, but he couldn’t. Alfyn was losing blood. They just had to hold on until Linde found them. So, instead of bandages, Therion took his scarf off and wrapped it around the wound.

  


“I’d hate to mess up your nice scarf, Theri-”

  


“Shut up and let me be nice for once. When we’re out of this, you’re washing my scarf in the nearest river, you hear?” Therion spat, but there was no bite behind it. Alfyn gave a tired laugh and nodded, resting his head against the boulder and letting his eyes slip shut. Therion wasn’t having that, so the thief patted Alfyn’s cheek and asked him to tell him about home.

  


The wounded apothecary immediately perked up and began talking excitedly and someone named Zeph and his little sister, Nina, the traveling apothecary that saved him and that he wanted to be exactly like, his mother, and now Therion had the knowledge of every little detail about Clearbrook that there was ever.

  


The problem was that Alfyn was out of things to talk about, and Therion wasn’t about to dive into his past.

  


“...Theri? It’s been a while. Do you think they’re comin’?” The dirty blonde male asked. “I’m worried that they might’ve run into some trouble, and trouble ain’t exactly the best.”

  


Therion scoffed and looked away, biting back an ‘obviously.’ He knew that Primrose and H’annit can protect themselves, but they were taking too long; Therion wasn’t the type to worry, but he was worried.

  


Especially with Alfyn’s lips slowly turning blue and his body racked with shivers.

  


“Are you cold?”

  


“...Y-yeah. A smidge.” The apothecary replied, curling in on himself and closing his eyes. Therion bit his lip and took his poncho off, draping it over Alfyn’s shoulders. Something had to happen - and he hoped that it was Linde coming to find them.

  


He hadn’t even noticed that Alfyn had fallen unconscious until he glanced over at him again. Cursing under his breath, he checked Alfyn’s pulse - weak, but it was there. It was still there. Gods- he was now having regrets about yelling at him. What if that was his last memory of him? An argument? Would Alfyn die without knowing how much he meant to Therion? To Primrose? To H’annit?

  


_(Oh, gods he shouldn’t think like this, but he couldn’t help himself-)_

  


He stopped his thoughts when he heard a growl, a roar and a shout of his and Alfyn’s names.

  


_Oh, thank the gods-_

  


“Help! Prim! H’an! We’re over here!” Therion ran out from behind the boulder and waved his arms, trying to make as much noise and humanly possible. Soon enough, the trio of girls ran up to him, their eyes wide and filled with concern.

  


“Are thou in good health? Where’s Alfyn?” H’annit asked, taking note of the fact that he didn’t have his poncho or scarf on. Before Therion could reply, Linde roared and ran behind the boulder. H’annit and Primrose ran to where the hunter’s companion was and they both let out a gasp. Primrose dropped to her knees, touching Alfyn’s cheek.

  


“Holy shit!”

  


And then everything after that was blur. H’annit (of course) carried Alfyn on her back as Primrose and Therion ran ahead to the nearest town, begging for any healing component they could find. Primrose and H’annit had used up all the healing grapes on their trek to the other half of the team, so they didn’t have anything on them, and none of them knew how to brew a concoction. Thankfully, the moment H’annit arrived with Alfyn, an apothecary nearby offered them his help, and now they were sitting outside the house that the two apothecaries were in.

  


Therion buried his head in his knees, replaying everything that had happened in the cave in his mind. If he hadn’t let emotions cloud his judgement… if he had only noticed the monster sooner… if he hadn’t yelled at Alfyn and let his anger control him…

  


“Therion. I have an apple for you.” He looked up to see Primrose sitting next to him and holding out an apple. How didn’t he notice her sitting down? Man, he was getting rusty. He took the apple with small ‘thanks’ and bit into it as the dancer next to him began speaking again. “H’annit went into town to get more materials. And more of everything. Everyone is always holding two healing grapes on them, we decided. I don’t suspect you have any objections to that?” Therion shook his head slowly, taking another bite into the apple.

  


“...Okay. Something is bothering you. Spill it, Therion. We can’t have you closing off on us again - it was awfully exhausting to break through your shell in the first place.” Primrose teased softly, poking him in the shoulder. The thief scoffed and looked away.

  


“You’re crazy if you think I’m going to tell you what’s wrong.” He hissed. But he could feel Primrose’s one-eyebrow-up amused look of her’s and she _knew_ that it always made him talk. Therion groaned and glared at Primrose, who looked very, very smug.

  


“Alright, fine. I yelled at Alfyn for giving most of his materials to you, and he didn’t have any materials to make any healing concoctions. I knew that Alfyn was competent with directions, but I was so mad that I ignored his directions and we hit a dead end. And I didn’t see the monster, but Alfyn did. So, he pushed me and got attacked instead.” Therion explained quickly, bunching a patch of hair in his hand and frowning. Primrose, to her credit, maintained a straight face throughout the entire story. She smiled dryly at him once he was finished.

  


“So, you blame yourself for this?” The brunette asked, twirling a strand of hair around her finger.

  


“Yeah… I guess so.” The white-haired male replied, averting his gaze to the grass underneath him.

  


“Don’t blame yourself. Even if you didn’t get into a fight and went the wrong way, he would’ve shoved you out the way regardless. He’s a self-sacrificing country bumpkin with a big heart. Don’t feel bad.” She looks at him was a smile, poking him in the shoulder again. Therion snorted, feeling beat rise to his cheeks.

  


“Yeah. I guess.”

  


After a couple of more minutes of waiting, H’annit and Linde came back with a couple of bags full of supplies.

  


“I brought more supplies. We should’st sorteth them out.” The hunter said, dropping all the bags on the floor. She leaned over and ruffled Therion’s hair before sitting down in front of her two companions and taking everything out of the bags.

  


They didn’t get far on sorting the supplies. Halfway through, H’annit insisted all the seeds go together, while Primrose said that the hazardous seeds and the healing seeds should be put in separate piles and be separated all together. There was this long banter about how seeds are different and how someone might consume the wrong one and become poisoned, but on the other hand seeds were seeds and they should all go together. Linde growled lowly in the middle of all of this, to which H’annit exclaimed,

  


“Linde! How couldst thee not concur with me?”

  


Therion fell over laughing at that point, his face bright red form the lack of air he was getting. For a moment, it seemed like everything was okay, and that no one just almost died. They were broken out of that happiness spell when the apothecary that had offered his services stepped out of the house. The three travelers scrambled up, trying to cover their mess of materials up with their legs. The apothecary smiled as if he was amused and began talking so painfully slow that Therion wanted to bash his head against the wall.

  


“I’m sorry that took so long, folks. I have some good news and bad news. The good news is that your companion will be okay. Whoever decided to wrap that scarf and poncho around him was a genius - he wouldn’t have made it if they didn’t do that.” Primrose nudged Therion discreetly behind his bad, giving him a side smile. Therion, being Therion, elected to ignore it as the apothecary continued. “With that being said, he lost a lot of blood, so he’ll have to stay on bed rest for a day or two and drink a lot. Like, _a lot._ Just make sure he doesn’t do anything too drastic, okay? He’s welcomes to stay in this house until he feels better and can venture out again.”

  


“Thank you so much, sir.” Primrose spoke, taking a step forward and putting her hand on her hip. “If there’s anything we can do to repay your kindness, please speak now. We would be honored to give you anything… within reason.” The apothecary laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, his cheeks turning red.

  


“I just need a couple of leaves, if that’s okay with you. Maybe like… 20? I need to stock up on some herbs again, and they don’t exactly cost that much.” He replied with a shy smile.

  


After giving him 30 leaves (shh it wasn’t Therion who slipped the extra 10 into his pocket), the three quietly stepped inside the house. There laid Alfyn, probably semi-conscious and probably confused. Primrose waited a few seconds before stepping forward and motioning for the other two to stay where they were and out of sight for a couple of minutes. Therion was confused but didn’t say anything about it. She had this kind of sly smile on her face that made him nervous, but he had no reason not to trust her.

  


“Hey, Alf. How are you feeling?”

  


Alfyn blinked slowly before turning his head and grinning at the dancer. “Shucks! Heya, Prim. How’are ya? I haven’t seen you in a while. Are you okay? Do ya need the mighty apothecary to patch you up?” Primrose chuckled softly, a soft feeling settling in her chest.

  


“No, I’m fine, Alfyn. You seem to be better. You must rest for a bit, okay? But before I let you do that, I need to ask you a question.” She took the silence as a ‘go on’. “Do you remember anything that happened?”

  


“Well, shucks… I-I think I ‘member this giant monster who was attackin’ Theri… an’ I just shoved ‘im out of the way. Do you think he was madder at me for that? Is he okay?”

  


“Yes, Alf, he’d fine. Don’t get yourself too worked up, okay? Do you remember anything before that?” Alfyn made a confused face before nodding.

  


“Yeah. I ‘member Theri yellin’ at me ‘because I ran out of supplies. He kind of made me mad, but it’s not his fault. I was a dunderhead for not realizin’ I didn’t have any materials.”

  


“Don’t think that way, Alf.”

  


“Hey! You tell ‘im it’s not his fault. I reckon that he’s out there, mopin’ and bein’ moody like he always is. He’s always blamin’ himself for somethin’ - tell ‘im it’s not his fault?”

  


Primrose looked over her shoulder to smirk at Therion, who probably would’ve kneeled over if H’annit didn’t have her hand on his shoulder. The dancer stood up and gave Alfyn a gentle kiss on the forehead. “Get some rest, Alf. I’ll be back with water in a bit.”

  


“‘Mkay. I’ll be waitin’.”

  


The brunette smiled to herself as she turned around and motioned for her two companions to go out the door. They slipped out the door and stood outside.

  


“I don’t think that was necessary.” Therion immediately piped up, his face turning red. From what? Embarrassment? Probably.

  


“Aw, look at him. H’an. He’s blushing.” Primrose cooed, leaning towards H’annit and pointing at Therion.

  


“How adorable.”

  


“Shut up. Shouldn’t we get Alfyn some water?” The thief scoffed as his two companions giggled to themselves.

  


“We'll beest right backeth. Doth not aught dumb while we're gone.” The huntress said, smiling and ruffling Therion’s hair like she always did.

  


“Yeah, yeah. Just get going.” He said with a small huff. He watched the two leave, Linde trailing behind them.

  


(He swore that Primrose kissed H’annit on the cheek. Honestly? If she did, he wouldn’t lie - that’s adorable.)

  


Therion looked around and slowly slipped inside the house and stared at Alfyn laying on the bed. His eyes were wide open. He tiptoed across the room and sat on the floor next to Alfyn. He didn’t know what to say.

  


“...Theri? Izzat you?” Alfyn slurred, rolling over on his side and wincing slightly when he did so. Therion shot up and got him to roll back onto his back.

  


“Yeah, medicine man. It’s me. Do me a favor and stay like this?” Therion said hurriedly, immediately consumed by the feeling of worry.

  


“Alrighty, alrighty. No need to get so worked up. Are you okay?” The dirty-blonde asked, reaching out his hand just a little. Therion smiled lopsidedly and took his hand in both of his. He could feel that heat rising to his cheeks again.

  


“...Your worrisome country bumpkin. Yes, I’m okay! Of course! Thanks, you I am. Are you okay?”

  


“I suppose I am… although these bandages are gettin’ mighty uncomfortable.”

  


‘I can’t imagine. But you need to keep those on, okay?”

  


“I know. I’m an apothecary, you know. I wouldn’t be so stupid to take bandages off my wound, which was actually rather bad.”

  


Therion almost choked on his spit because this wasn’t the Alfyn that Primrose spoke to before. He wasn’t out of it like he was before. Therion let out a soft sigh of relief and laughed to himself.

  


“Oh, good. You’re not so out of it now. How are you feeling? Can I get you anything?” Therion asked (and no, he wasn’t resisting to urge to brush some stray hairs from his forehead.). He squeezed Alfyn’s hands a bit tighter as the other laughed weakly.

  


“Nah. I’m fine. Thanks for the concern though, Therion.”

  


Therion sat on the edge of the bed and used one of his hands the brush the stray hair from Alfyn’s forehead. “Look, Alfyn… I’m sorry for yelling at you. It wasn’t your fault that Prim was curious and that you literally have the biggest heart. I was so mad and then… even though I yelled at you… you still jumped in the way to save me. I don’t know how I can thank you, Alf.” Therion really did pour everything into this apology. A couple of weeks ago, he would have never apologized to Alfyn for something like this. But Alfyn meant a lot to him… and he did feel sorry.

  


“Don’t worry about it. I was wrong to leave most of my materials. Although, I just don’t know why first aid wasn’t workin’. It worked on every single one of you guys… I wonder why it didn’t work on me.” Alfyn murmured, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Therion was about to tell him not to worry about it and that they could discuss it later, but the dirty-blonde just went _off._ “I-I mean, it’s not like it never worked on you guys or anythin’. I thought i was low on energy, but then I wouldn’t have been functionin’ properly. And I was functionin’ properly! You saw me! Do you think my first aid doesn’t even work anymore? If it doesn’t how am I supposed to individually heal you and the other two? H’an’s goin’ to be disappointed, isn’t she? This isn’t very good, you know- mph!”

  


(Therion had to.)

  


The white-haired male just leaned down and kissed Alfyn softly. Maybe it was to shut him up -

  


Or maybe it was just the urge to get that fuzzy feeling out of his chest. After he pulled away, he stared Aflyn straight in the eyes, kind of having regrets and kind of not. After a few seconds of silence, Alfyn chuckled and reached up to cup Therion’s cheek.

  


“And here I thought I’d be makin’ the first move.”

  


“We can’t have you making all the first moves, can we?”

  


Alfyn laughed, and Therion decided to shut him up again with yet another kiss. They pulled away after Alfyn started giggling, his cheeks turning pink.

  


“Shucks… this might be the happiest day of my life so far. I’m not jokin’!”

  


“Ugh, you sap. Move over a bit.” Therion grumbled, although there was no bite behind it. Alfyn carefully moved over, trying not to jostle his wound as Therion slid onto the bed facing him. It felt weird laying down with another person next to him, but it was nice at the same time. He felt… oddly safe. The thief smiled to himself and curled up against the apothecary, relishing the feeling of Alfyn’s hands hesitantly brushing through his hair.

  


The feeling of peace was something he hadn’t felt in a long time.

  


He felt at peace.

  


_________________________________

  


“Wherefore is't yond at which hour we findeth those folks being cute, those gents're asleep?” H’annit asked with a small huff, clearly annoyed. Primrose had to agree, honestly. The two girls came back with like, 13 gallons of water, just to find their two companions curled up next to each other in bed.

  


“I wish we had a way to document this and show it to them later. We could embarrass them.” Primrose agreed, crossing her arms, feigning annoyance. Linde mewled softly as H’annit chuckled to herself.

  


“I has’t an idea.”

  


The next morning, Therion found himself with the world ‘boyf’ on his cheek written with dyed soil and Alfyn with the word ‘einds’ on his. Primrose and H’annit had a good laugh.

  


(They weren’t happy when Alfyn got an allergic reaction from the dye.)

  


**Author's Note:**

> i tried with h'annit's speech
> 
> expect (hopefully) more content with H'annit and Primrose soon


End file.
